Replace my 1995 R7's

jrusche

I am very stressed about my current situation. I just love, no, LOVE my R7's, had them 13 years now.

Seems that my driver (MW8002) in one of them is blown. I quickly looked at other similar posts and it looks like nobody is successful in replacing this speaker.

Here is my question to all of you who care to help me out. Are the R7's as good as I think or are they just average?

Is there anything Polk currently makes that would be a good replacement? I went to Best Buy to hear what they carry, and, in a word, I was offended at how awful they sounded. I did'nt even bother remembering what the model #'s were.

I'm a 2-channel guy. I use the R7's in a home theater for the 2 main's but also for straight up stereo. I don't really like the sub-woofer with a lot of my music. I listen to acoustic jazz, classical, metal, classic rock, dance. Pretty eclectic.

A friend of mine suggessted the B&W 602 bookshelves but they don't make them anymore. Figures. All the speaker companies figure that everybody uses the subwoofer so much that they quit making speakers with decent ported woofers.

Please offer me some advice.

comfortablycurt

Do you mean RT7's? I've never heard of R7's...Polk doesn't have them listed on their website either.

Is this what you have?

jrusche

My bad. Yes, they are the RT7's that you kindly placed a link to.

FYI, I looked at eBay and bid on some LSi9's that are two years old. They seem to fit the bill for me, any thoughts?

apphd

I would think due to your preference to 2 ch. the LSi9 would be a great choice. Since you also are looking at bookshelf speakers instead of towers I'm guessing this is not a large room you are planning on using them in. So you may be ok. The LSi9 being 4 ohm speakers may create a problem at higher listening levels if your amp is not up to it, especially in multi ch. applications. Again this all depends on what you are driving them with. Can you add some details as to what you use for an amp and size of room, listening habits (like to crank it?) so some with knowledge of your amp can comment on if it will cut it. Many will say you must have a high current 4 ohm capable amp to drive LSi's, but IMHO while this is a GOOD rule of thumb, it is not cast in stone, and in SOME situations may not apply.

Igo

jrusche wrote: »

I am very stressed about my current situation. I just love, no, LOVE my R7's, had them 13 years now.

Seems that my driver (MW8002) in one of them is blown. I quickly looked at other similar posts and it looks like nobody is successful in replacing this speaker.

Here is my question to all of you who care to help me out. Are the R7's as good as I think or are they just average?

Is there anything Polk currently makes that would be a good replacement? I went to Best Buy to hear what they carry, and, in a word, I was offended at how awful they sounded. I did'nt even bother remembering what the model #'s were.

I'm a 2-channel guy. I use the R7's in a home theater for the 2 main's but also for straight up stereo. I don't really like the sub-woofer with a lot of my music. I listen to acoustic jazz, classical, metal, classic rock, dance. Pretty eclectic.

A friend of mine suggessted the B&W 602 bookshelves but they don't make them anymore. Figures. All the speaker companies figure that everybody uses the subwoofer so much that they quit making speakers with decent ported woofers.

Please offer me some advice.

The RT7 more usually blows a tweeter at 10 or 12 years rather than the low driver. People have trouble replacing the tweeter because they've been bought up or are off the radar but if you hunt, you should be able to find the 7 inch driver.
My RT7's are still rocking and no, there isn't a timbre matched speaker in the new line ups. The RT7 was/is a fine speaker. It's brighter than any of the rest of my Polk line up.

jrusche

I have a Yamaha RX-V661. It supports both 4 and 8 ohm systems. My satellites are the R15's and I am pretty sure that they are not 4 ohm and it may be an issue but they are very inexpensive and easily replaced. I don't care about the rear channels very much. My center channel is a CS1. I'm not particularly pleased with it so I don't care much about it either. I just use 2 channel enhancer most of the time with a little powered sub. The sub does not get much work unless I listen to a movie.

I got the Lsi9's. I just could not resist and using common sense I figured it would be a great new set of speakers.

The woofer on my RT7 just produced plain distortion, the tweeter sounds GREAT. I loved them and I will probably continue to search for the woofer.

There is a chance that I would sell the remaining woofer and two tweeters if any of you guys really need them. Not sure what I'll do though.
Toshiba HD DVD player. Hey-WalMart $97. It was an easy risk to take. I'll get a BluRay when they cost less.

About the tendency to "crank it"? I do at times. Classical symphony orchestras have a very wide dynamic range and the softer portions are very soft at a mid volume level, the louds get very loud. The metal/rock likes to be loud but I don't overdo it. I'll go in my truck and crank the polk's in there w/ the kicker 10" and 600W amp. God-the polk tweeters in the car are truly satisfying and the vocal mid's are just strong! I hate when people say the car speakers are "too bright" "very brittle". I swear, you can almost see the under side of a crash cymbal, you'd think you were holding the triangle (Rush YYZ)

I could go on forever.

Igo

Well I'd be interested in a tweeter if you sell. Maybe both.

apphd

jrusche wrote: »

I have a Yamaha RX-V661. It supports both 4 and 8 ohm systems. My satellites are the R15's and I am pretty sure that they are not 4 ohm and it may be an issue but they are very inexpensive and easily replaced. I don't care about the rear channels very much. My center channel is a CS1. I'm not particularly pleased with it so I don't care much about it either. I just use 2 channel enhancer most of the time with a little powered sub. The sub does not get much work unless I listen to a movie.

I got the Lsi9's. I just could not resist and using common sense I figured it would be a great new set of speakers.

The woofer on my RT7 just produced plain distortion, the tweeter sounds GREAT. I loved them and I will probably continue to search for the woofer.

There is a chance that I would sell the remaining woofer and two tweeters if any of you guys really need them. Not sure what I'll do though.
Toshiba HD DVD player. Hey-WalMart $97. It was an easy risk to take. I'll get a BluRay when they cost less.

About the tendency to "crank it"? I do at times. Classical symphony orchestras have a very wide dynamic range and the softer portions are very soft at a mid volume level, the louds get very loud. The metal/rock likes to be loud but I don't overdo it. I'll go in my truck and crank the polk's in there w/ the kicker 10" and 600W amp. God-the polk tweeters in the car are truly satisfying and the vocal mid's are just strong! I hate when people say the car speakers are "too bright" "very brittle". I swear, you can almost see the under side of a crash cymbal, you'd think you were holding the triangle (Rush YYZ)

I could go on forever.

I have the Yamaha 663 which I think is the same but supports the HD audio formats. I think you are limited in 4 ohm capabilities to 1 set of speakers only. And with the 663 limits the output, rather than being truly 4 ohm capable. So you would probably not want to add any more 4 ohm speakers anyway. Which then you run into timbre matching, which may or may not be an issue for you. Even with the LSi9s I would use caution with the volume level and that amp. I suggest keeping it very modest for a while to get to know what they sound like before pushing it at all. Then if they start sounding strange/different turn it down, you may be quicker than the protect if you are listening close. If you win the bid I would start thinking of getting an amp, I think the 661 has pre-outs so you could probably get a used 2 ch. pretty cheap. It would be a shame to damage a great speaker like those.

TroyD

RT7 is my favorite non-SDA speaker......LOVE 'em.

In fact, my brother from another mother still has a pair that I gave him a number of years ago...

BDT

Josephlogston

i went to the swap meet about 2 mo. ago and i purchested 4 rt-7 they are beat up they all play eciept 1 tweeter in one speaker was going to save them for spare parts
for my beloved rt-7s mite sell parts

Igo

I'll looking for a tweeter.

Josephlogston

igo; i guess i could sell you a tweeter; cant gurantee it.
but i will test it frist. to see if it works at all

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